Source: Liverpool_Echo
GREG O'KEEFFE: Everton fans will hand it to vintage Lee Carsley
A GOODISON Park crowd very rarely denies former players a round of applause as their name is read out when they return.[LNB]Nick Barmby and Wayne Rooney may argue otherwise, but Everton supporters are normally charitable even if the player in question did not exactly set the world on fire in royal blue.[LNB]But one man guaranteed universal acclaim again at Goodison on Sunday, is Lee Carsely.[LNB]He is a player who, for many Evertonians, underlines the saying that you dont know what you got til its gone.[LNB]Im biased of course, as a card carrying member of the Lee Carlsey appreciation society.[LNB]But from a mixed start to his Everton career, when he seemed destined to be a likeable journeyman akin to Mark Pembridge or Simon Davies, he has slowly become something of a folk hero around L4.[LNB]Carsleys peak in form coincided with the best period under David Moyes reign so far. Sitting diligently in front of the back four, the Irish international did the (at the time unfashionable) messy work.[LNB]He broke things up, won the ball and distributed it intelligently to players like Arteta and Gravesen with more creative flair in their feet. His tackling was almost always immaculate - tough but fair.[LNB]Carsley was doing a job which Liverpool paid Javier Mascherano £18m to do.[LNB]Of course, Super Lee really wrote himself into Everton folklore by scoring the winner in the 200th Merseyside derby at Goodison in 2004. The photograph of the piley-on which ensued, with Tim Cahill on top, is a permanent reminder of Carsleys popularity in the dressing room too.[LNB]He was not just a good player for Everton. Carsley is an immensely likeable, humble man, and with his soft Brummie brogue he kept morale up with jokes at Finch Farm and had time for everyone.
